1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weather strip to be attached along a door opening of a motor vehicle, and more particularly to the structure of an end portion of the weather strip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a weather strip 1 formed of rubber or synthetic resin is attached along a door opening of a vehicle body. When the door is closed, this weather strip 1 seals the clearance between a door frame or a peripheral edge of a door glass of a frameless door, and the vehicle body.
The weather strip 1 is composed of an extruded front portion 1A, an extruded rear portion 1B, a molded corner portion 1C connecting the extruded front portion 1A to the extruded rear portion 1B, and molded end portions 1D, 1E, which are provided at a lower end of the extruded front portion 1A and the extruded rear portion 1B, respectively.
A weather strip 2 for effecting a seal between the door and the vehicle body is attached along the door. This weather strip 2 is provided with molded end portions 2D and 2E at respective upper ends of the extruded portions. When the door is closed, the end portions 2D, 2E of the weather strip 2 come into pressure contact with the end portions 1D, 1E of the weather strip 1, respectively.
The thickness of each of the end portions 1D, 1E of the weather strip 1 gradually decreased towards a lower end thereof. The thickness of the lower end of each of the end portions 1D, 1E is ordinarily about 0.5 mm. When the door is closed, the end portions 2D, 2E of the weather strip 2 are pressed against the end portions 1D, 1E of the weather strip 1, respectively, to generate a space 3 of a triangular section in front of the end portion 1D (1E) between a body panel 4 and the end portion 2D (2E) of the weather strip 2, as shown in FIG. 6. This space 3 decreases the sealing performance of the weather strip 1.
The generation of the space 3 can be prevented by forming a lower end 13 of the end portion 1D (1E) thin, like an edge of a blade. However, when the lower end 13 of the end portion 1D (1E) is formed thin throughout the entire width thereof, the lower end 13 becomes unstable in shape due to insufficient rigidity, and accordingly is not brought into close contact with the body panel 4. This results in the lower end 13 being likely to peel off the body panel 4 when the door is opened.